She said that sexism was not a "systemic problem" at Uber and that Kalanick was the "heart and soul" of the business.

Huffington added: "If he had not acknowledged mistakes — if he had not been willing to make changes — it would have been another story. But we cannot judge people by their worst moments — none of us would want to be judged by our worst moments provided we learn, we grow, and evolve, and he has shown very clearly that he is changing."

Despite her positive comments about Kalanick, Huffington said there had already been changes at the company.

She said new systems were in place to make sure "brilliant jerks" didn't rise to the top. She described those people as "top performers" who are "not aligned with the big cultural values at Uber." Huffington said more than 60% of Uber managers were first-time managers and lacked training because the company had grown so quickly.

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